And the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons: What does this teach us [when it specifies “after the death of Aaron’s two sons”]? Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah illustrated [the answer] with a parable of a patient, whom a physician came to visit. [The physician] said to him, “Do not eat cold foods, and do not lie down in a cold, damp place.” Then, another [physician] visited him, and advised him, “Do not eat cold foods or lie down in a cold, damp place, so that you will not die the way so-and-so died.” This one warned that patient more effectively than the former. Therefore, Scripture says, “after the death of Aaron’s two sons” [i.e., God effectively said to Aaron, “Do not enter the Holy in a prohibited manner, so that you will not die as your sons died”]- [Torath Kohanim 16:3]

2And the Lord said to Moses: Speak to your brother Aaron, that he should not come at all times into the Holy within the dividing curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, so that he should not die, for I appear over the ark cover in a cloud.

And the Lord said to Moses: Speak to your brother Aaron, that he should not come [at all times into the Holy]: so that he should not die the way his sons died. — [Torath Kohanim 16:3]

ויאמר ה' אל משה דבר אל אהרן אחיך ואל יבא: שלא ימות כדרך שמתו בניו:

so that he should not die: for if he does enter, he will die. — [Torath Kohanim 16:3]

ולא ימות: שאם בא הוא מת:

for I appear…in a cloud: “For I continuously appear there with My pillar of cloud, and therefore, since My Divine Presence is revealed there, he must be careful not to accustom himself to enter.” This is its simple meaning. Our Rabbis, however, interpreted [it as follows]: He shall not come except with the cloud of incense on Yom Kippur. - [Yoma 53a]

with this: בְּזֹאת. Its gematria [numerical value] is 410, an allusion to [the number of years that] the first Temple [would stand when the kohanim were righteous like Aaron, and it was as if Aaron lived all these years and entered the Holy of Holies]. - [Vayikra Rabbah 21:9]

בזאת: גימטריא שלו ארבע מאות ועשר, רמז לבית ראשון:

With this shall Aaron enter [the Holy]: And even [with] this, not at all times, but [only] on Yom Kippur, as is specified at the end of this section (verse 29 below),“in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month…” [i.e., the tenth of Tishri, namely, Yom Kippur].

4He shall wear a holy linen shirt and linen pants shall be upon his flesh, and he shall gird himself with a linen sash and wear a linen cap these are holy garments, [and therefore,] he shall immerse himself in water and don them.

[He shall wear a…] linen shirt…: [By enumerating only the four garments of an ordinary kohen, Scripture] informs [us] that [the Kohen Gadol] does not perform the service inside [i.e., in the Holy of Holies] wearing the eight garments with which he performs the service outside [the Holy of Holies (see Exod. Chap. 28)], for those [garments] contain gold, and a prosecutor cannot become a defender. [I.e., since the Kohen Gadol enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur to effect atonement for all Israel, he may not enter wearing gold, reminiscent of the golden calf]. Instead, [he wears] four garments, like an ordinary kohen, all of which are [made] of linen. — [R. H. 26a]

and wear: Heb. יִצְנֹף, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders it: יָחֵית בְּרֵישֵׁיהּ, he shall place on his head. This is similar to “So she placed (וַתַּנַּח) his garment” (Gen. 39:16), [which Onkelos renders:] וְאַחְתְתֵהּ.

he shall immerse in water: On that day he was required to immerse himself every time he changed [his garments]. And [in total, the Kohen Gadol] changed his garments five times [when transferring] from the service inside [the Holy of Holies] to the service outside, and from outside to inside, changing from golden garments to white garments, and from white garments to golden garments. And at every change [of garments], he was required to immerse in a mikvah [once] and to sanctify his hands and feet twice [by washing his hands in the water] from the washstand [i.e., once when removing the garments he wore and a second time when he donned the next set of garments]. — [Yoma 32a]

his sin-offering bull: That is the one mentioned above (verse 3). And [Scripture’s reference to “his”] teaches you here that [this bull] had to be [purchased] from Aaron’s own money, rather than from public funds. — [Torath Kohanim 16:19; Yoma 3b]

And Aaron shall place lots upon the two he-goats: He would place one [he-goat] on his right and one on his left. Then, he would insert both his hands into an urn [which contained two lots, one bearing the inscription “to the Lord” and the other “to Azazel.” These lots were mixed up, and Aaron, with both hands inside the urn] took one lot in his right hand and the other in his left hand, and he would place them upon them [the he-goats]: [The one] upon which [he placed the lot] with the inscription “to the Lord,” would be for God, while the one upon which [he placed the lot] with the inscription “to Azazel,” would be sent off to Azazel. — [Yoma 39a]

while still alive: [is to be understood] like יָעֳמַד חַי [i.e., the word יָעֳמַד is in the hof’al conjugation, which is a passive form, meaning that the goat] was “stood up by others.” [Thus,] the Targum translates it as, יִתָּקַם כַּד חַי, “shall be stood up while alive.” And what does the verse teach us when it says “alive?” Since it says: “to send it away to Azazel,” and we do not know whether it was to be sent away to be killed or to remain alive. Therefore, Scripture says, “shall be placed while still alive,” [meaning that] it is to be placed while still alive [and shall remain alive only] until it is sent away. From here, we learn that it was sent away to its death. — [Torath Kohanim 16:26]

…and shall [initiate] atonement for himself: This is a second confession [i. e., besides that stated in verse 6 above for himself and his household], and is for himself [again] and for his brothers, the kohanim, all of whom are called “his household,” as the verse says, “O house of Aaron, bless the Lord,” (Ps. 135:19). From here, we see that [all] the kohanim receive atonement through this [sin-offering bull of the Kohen Gadol] (Torath Kohanim 16:29; Shev. 13b) And all its atonement is exclusively for defiling the Sanctuary and its holy things, [e.g., if a kohen forgot that he was unclean and entered the Sanctuary or ate sacrifices], as the verse says, “And he shall effect atonement upon the Holy, from the defilements [of the children of Israel]” (verse 16 below). - [Shev. 14a]

from before the Lord: From the side [of the altar] that is before the entrance [to the Holy], namely, the western side [of the altar]. — [Yoma 45b]

מלפני ה': מצד שלפני הפתח והוא צד מערבי:

fine: Heb. דַּקָּה. But what does Scripture teach us here, when it says [that the incense had to be] fine? Was not all incense fine, as Scripture says [regarding the spices], “And you shall crush some of it finely” (Exod. 30:36)? Rather, [Scripture is telling us here that this incense] was to be the finest of the fine, for on the eve of Yom Kippur, they would return [already crushed incense] to the mortar [in order to crush it even finer, for use on Yom Kippur]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:34; Keritot 6b]

[And he shall place the incense] upon the fire: that is inside the pan.

על האש: שבתוך המחתה:

so that he shall not die: Hence, if [the Kohen Gadol] did not make it according to its formula, he would be liable to death. — [Torath Kohanim 16:35; Yoma 53a]

ולא ימות: הא אם לא עשאה כתקנה, חייב מיתה:

14And he shall take some of the bull's blood and sprinkle [it] with his index finger on top of the ark cover on the eastern side; and before the ark cover, he shall sprinkle seven times from the blood, with his index finger.

and before the [ark] cover, he shall sprinkle seven [times]: Thus, once above and seven times below. — [Torath Kohanim 16:41; Yoma 55a]

ולפני הכפרת יזה שבע: הרי אחת למעלה ושבע למטה:

15He shall then slaughter the he goat of the people's sin offering and bring its blood within the dividing curtain, and he shall do with its blood as he had done with the bull's blood, and he shall sprinkle it upon the ark cover and before the ark cover.

the people’s [sin-offering he-goat]: For what the bull atones for the kohanim [namely, defilements of the Sanctuary and its holy things], the he-goat atones for the Israelites, and this goat was the one upon which the lot “For the Lord” had fallen. - [Yoma 61a]

as he had done with the bull’s blood: [namely, sprinkling it] once above and seven times below. — [Torath Kohanim 16:41; Yoma 55a]

כאשר עשה לדם הפר: אחת למעלה ושבע למטה:

16And he shall effect atonement upon the Holy from the defilements of the children of Israel and from their rebellions and all their unintentional sins. He shall do likewise to the Tent of Meeting, which dwells with them amidst their defilements.

from the defilements of the children of Israel-: [i.e., atoning] for those who, while in [a state of] uncleanness, had entered the Sanctuary, and it never became known to them [that they had been unclean], for it says: לְכָל חַטֹּאתָם, חַטָּאַת denotes an unintentional sin. — [Torath Kohanim 16:42; Shev. 17b]

and from their rebellions: [i.e., atoning] also [for] those who, in a state of uncleanness, willfully entered [the Sanctuary, thereby defiling it]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:42; Shev. 17b]

ומפשעיהם: אף הנכנסין מזיד בטומאה:

He shall do likewise to the Tent of Meeting: i.e., just as he had sprinkled from [the blood of] both [the bull and the he-goat] inside [the Holy of Holies, with] one sprinkling above and seven below, so shall he sprinkle from [the blood of] both [the bull and the he-goat] on the dividing curtain from the outside once above and seven times below. — [Torath Kohanim 16:43; Yoma 56b]

which dwells with them, [even] amidst their defilements: Although they are unclean, the Divine Presence is among them. — [Torath Kohanim 16:43; Yoma 56b]

השכן אתם בתוך טמאתם: אף על פי שהם טמאים שכינה ביניהם:

17And no man shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he comes to effect atonement in the Holy, until he comes out. And he shall effect atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

18And he shall then go out to the altar that is before the Lord and effect atonement upon it: He shall take some of the bull's blood and some of the he goat's blood, and place it on the horns of the altar, around.

to the altar that is before the Lord: This is the golden altar, which is “before the Lord” in the heichal [i.e., in the Temple, it was in the heichal , was the equivalent of the Holy in the Mishkan]. And [since the Kohen Gadol was to remain inside the Holy for the next procedure,] what does Scripture mean when it says, “And he shall then go out?” Since he had just performed the blood sprinklings on the dividing curtain, standing on the inner side of the altar to sprinkle [i.e., between the altar and the dividing curtain], for the applications on the altar, [Scripture] required him to “go out” to the outer side of the altar and to begin with the north-eastern corner. — [Torath Kohanim 16:45; Yoma 58b. See Mizrachi , Gur Aryeh. Also Chavel, who asserts that, according to the Reggio edition of Rashi, the Kohen Gadol did not stand beyond the altar, but alongside it, from where he commenced to apply the blood from the north-eastern corner.]

and effect atonement upon it: And what is the [procedure that effects the] atonement? [As the verse continues:] “He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the he-goat’s blood,” one mingled with the other. — [Torath Kohanim 16:46; Yoma 57b]

and he shall cleanse it: from any [defilements] that had occurred in the past,

וטהרו: ממה שעבר:

and sanctify it: for the future. — [Torath Kohanim 16:48] [According to Mizrachi, this means that now that the altar had been purified from past defilements, care would be taken not to defile this now pure altar. Maskil LeDavid explains that, after the altar was cleansed of its previous defilements, it had to be resanctified for future use. This the Kohen Gadol would effect. Raavad explains that, by cleansing it of its defilements, he would sanctify it for future use.]

וקדשו: לעתיד לבא:

20And he shall finish effecting atonement for the Holy, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and then he shall bring the live he goat.

21And Aaron shall lean both of his hands [forcefully] upon the live he goat's head and confess upon it all the willful transgressions of the children of Israel, all their rebellions, and all their unintentional sins, and he shall place them on the he goat's head, and send it off to the desert with a timely man.

And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting: Our Rabbis stated (Torath Kohanim 16:60; Yoma 32a) that this is not the [correct chronological] place for this verse, and they gave a reason for this in Tractate Yoma (32a). And they said: “This whole passage is in correct chronological order, except for this entry, for this followed the performance of his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering, and the burning of the sacrificial parts of the bull and the he-goat, which were performed outside [the Holy of Holies, with the Kohen Gadol attired] in golden garments. Then he would immerse himself, sanctify [his hands and feet with water from the washstand], remove them [his golden garments], don his white garments”-

and…shall come into the Tent of Meeting: to take out the spoon and the pan, with which he had caused the incense to go up in smoke in the inner Holy. [Then,]

ובא אל אהל מועד: להוציא את הכף ואת המחתה שהקטיר בה הקטרת לפני ולפנים:

[Aaron shall…] remove the linen garments: After he took them [the spoon and the pan] out, and then he would don his golden garments the afternoon תָּמִיד [i.e., the daily burnt offering sacrificed twice every day]. The following, [therefore,] is the order of the services: 1) The morning תָּמִיד in golden garments; 2) the service involving the bull and he-goat whose blood was sprinkled inside [the Holy] and the incense procedure [with the burning coals] in the pan, in white garments. 3) Then, his ram, the people’s ram and some of the additional sacrifices [of the day (see Num. 29:7-11)] in golden garments; 4) then, the removal of the spoon and the pan in white garments; 5) the remainder of the additional sacrifices, the afternoon תָּמִיד, and the incense procedure in the heichal upon the inner altar in golden garments. Hence, the [chronological] sequence of the verses, corresponding to [the chronological order of] the services is as follows: (Verse 22), “and he shall send off the he-goat into the desert”; then (verse 24),“And he shall immerse his flesh…He shall then go out and sacrifice his burnt offering…”; then (verse 25),“the fat of the sin-offering…”; then the remainder of this passage, up till (verse 26),“And after this, he may come into the camp”; only then [comes our verse 23 into the chronological sequence,] “And Aaron shall enter [the Tent of Meeting, and remove the linen garments],”

and there, he shall store them away: This teaches [us] that they require being stored away [forever], and he shall not use those four garments for any other Yom Kippur. — [Torath Kohanim 16:61; Yoma 12b]

24And he shall immerse his flesh in a holy place and don his garments. He shall then go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people's burnt offering, and he shall effect atonement for himself and for the people.

And he shall immerse his flesh…: Above (see Rashi verse 4), we learned from “he shall immerse in water and then don them,” that when he changes from golden garments to white garments, he is required to immerse himself, for with that immersion, he removed the golden garments, with which he had performed the service of the morning תָּמִיד, and subsequently changed into white garments, to perform the service of the day (see verse 4). Here, we learn that when he changes from white garments to golden garments, he [also] is required to immerse [in a mikvah]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:60; Yoma 32a]

in a holy place: sanctified with the [degree of] holiness of the Courtyard [of the Holy Temple], and it was on the roof of [a chamber in the Holy Temple, called] Beth HaParvah. And so were [all] four immersions which were obligatory for the day, except for the very first immersion, which was performed in an unsanctified [place because this immersion, in preparation to sacrifice the morning תָּמִיד, took place every day and was not, therefore, specific to the Yom Kippur service]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:62; Yoma 30a]

25And he shall cause the fat of the sin offering to go up in smoke upon the altar.

כה וְאֵ֛ת חֵ֥לֶב הַֽחַטָּ֖את יַקְטִ֥יר הַמִּזְבֵּֽחָה:

the fat of the sin-offering: [This refers to] the sacrificial fats of the bull and the he-goat.

ואת חלב החטאת: אימורי פר ושעיר:

And he shall cause [the fat of the sin-offering] to go up in smoke upon the altar: On the outer altar, for, concerning the inner altar, it is written: “You shall offer up on it no alien incense, burnt offering, or meal offering” (Exod. 30:9), [and likewise, no sin-offering shall be brought on the internal altar since “burnt offering” includes any sacrifice of which any part is burned].

27And the sin offering bull and he goat of the sin offering, [both of] whose blood was brought to effect atonement in the Holy, he shall take outside the camp, and they shall burn in fire their hides, their flesh, and their waste.

29And [all this] shall be as an eternal statute for you; in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall afflict yourselves, and you shall not do any work neither the native nor the stranger who dwells among you.

And the Kohen who is anointed: This atonement on Yom Kippur is valid only through a Kohen Gadol [since anointment in this context exclusively refers to that of a Kohen Gadol (see Lev. 21:10)].-[Yoma 32b] Since this entire passage is stated concerning Aaron, Scripture found it necessary to state that the Kohen Gadol who succeeds him is like him. -[Torath Kohanim 16:79]

or who is invested: [Without this phrase,] we would know only that [the Kohen Gadol] anointed with the anointing oil (see Exod. 30:22-33) may perform the Yom Kippur service]. How would we know that [a Kohen Gadol who was invested only by] wearing the many garments [i.e., eight, as opposed to the four of an ordinary kohen, may also perform Yom Kippur service]? Scripture, therefore, says here, "or who is invested to serve [for their authorized wearing of the eight golden garments of a Kohen Gadol is their very investiture (see Rashi Exod. 29:9)]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:79] These [Kohanim Gedolim referred to here,] are all the Kohanim Gedolim who were appointed from the time of Josiah and onwards, for in the days [of Josiah], the jug of anointing oil was hidden away. — [see Yoma 52b]

to serve in his father’s stead: This teaches us that if his son can take his place [meaning that he is his equal], he takes precedence over everyone else. — [Torath Kohanim 16:80]

לכהן תחת אביו: ללמד שאם בנו ממלא את מקומו הוא קודם לכל אדם:

33And he shall effect atonement upon the Holy of Holies, and he shall effect atonement upon the Tent of Meeting and upon the altar, and he shall effect atonement upon the kohanim and upon all the people of the congregation.

And he did as the Lord had commanded [Moses]: [i.e.,] when Yom Kippur arrived, [Aaron] performed [the service] according to ths order, and [this verse is written] to tell Aaron’s praise, namely, that he did not don those [special garments of the Kohen Gadol] for his self-aggrandizement, but rather, as one who is fulfilling the King’s decree [thus, “he did as the Lord had commanded”]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:85]